Attachment for desk structures



Oct. 5, 1954 w. E. NORDMARK ATTACHMENT FOR DESK STRUCTURES OriginalFiled Feb. 26, 1949 INVENTOR flaifer' E. Naz-dmaz-li ATTORNEY PatentedOct. 5, 1954 ATTACHMENT FOR DESK STRUCTURES Walter E. Nordmark, GrandRapids, Mich, as-

signor to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich, a corporation ofNew Jersey Original application February 26, 1949, Serial No. 78,536.Divided and this application February 15, 1951, Serial No. 211,077

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to Desk Structures or the like, and moreparticularly to such structures for use in classrooms or the like. Thisapplication is a division of my co-pending application for patent onDesk Structure, Serial No. 78,536, filed February 26, 1949, nowabandoned.

The primary objects of this invention are to provide an improvedbox-type desk top having a top box and a one-piece cover which may bemanually lifted in the rear to give access to the interior of the desktop; and to provide such a desk structure having an inkwell attachmentby means of which the desk is provided with an inkwell independent ofthe movable one-piece cover for the top box, said inkwell being mountedon the top box for movement to :a use position outside the top box or toa non-use position within the top box.

Illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a desk top mounted on a supportingpedestal shown fragmentarily, and with the cover thereof in raisedposition;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the right hand rear corner ofthe top box showing an inkwell mounted on the side wall thereof formovement between a use position outside the top box as indicated insolid lines, and a non-use position within the top box as indicated indotted lines;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 33 ofFigure 2 and showing the inkwell and inkwell attachment in its nonuseposition within the top box of the desk structure in solid lines, and inan intermediate position in dotted lines;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional view of the same taken online 413 of Figure 3 and showing the inkwell in its use position outsidethe top box.

Referring now in detail to these drawings wherein like parts aredesignated by the same numerals in the several views, the desk topstructure there shown comprises a sheet metal top box It mounted on thetop of a supporting column or pedestal l l, which may be provided withany suitable supporting base on its lower end (not shown). The top boxit has upstanding front, rear and side walls which have their upperedges curled inwardly and downwardly to form a smooth continuous upperflange I2.

A one-piece cover I 3, made of wood or other suitable material, ishingedly connected to the front of the top box ill by means ofinterconnected hinge leaves It and 15 secured in any suitable mannerrespectively to the cover 13 and the upper edge of the front wall of thetop box.

The cover is desirably provided with rubber bumpers is on its undersideadapted to rest against the curled upper edge of the rear wall of thetop box when the cover is in its lowered position, in which loweredposition the cover serves both as a closure for the top box and also asa work surface. The cover may be lifted by its rearward elge to arearwardly-upwardly inclined raised position giving access to the topbox for the placement of books and other supplies therein, or removal ofthe same therefrom.

A friction control mechanism H is associated with the top box I 0 andthe cover l3 at each side of the structure. These friction controls aredescribed in detail in my co-pending application above identified.

Many school desks of the same general type as that herein disclosed, areprovided with a fixed cover-strip at the front of the top box whichstrip is separate from the hinged cover and remains stationary when thecover is raised and lowered. In such desks it is common practice toplace an inkwell in a circular socket formed in the stationarycover-strip. However when the cover is made of one piece hinged to thefront of the top box as herein disclosed, it is not suitable to mountthe inkwell on the cover for the obvious reason that the ink would bespilled out when the cover is raised. The inkwell might be permanentlyattached to the outside of the top box, but this is undesirable becausethe inkwell would thus extend into the aisle between desk units at alltimes. This invention therefore comprehends the provision of an inkwellattachment by means of which the inkwell is manually movable between anon-use position within the top box and a use position outside the topbox.

As seen in Figures 1-4 inclusive, the inkwell attachment comprises aninkwell support It pivotally mounted at IQ for swinging movement about avertical axis on a carriage 29 which is mounted at spaced points thereonupon the outer ends of substantially parallel arms 21 and 22 which arepivotally secured at their lower ends to a bracket 23 secured as by abolt 24 and nut 25 to the inside of the right hand side wall of the topbox I 0. The inkwell 2B is disposed in a circular opening in the outerend of the inkwell support I8, and may be removably secured to saidsupport by means of a latch element 27 pivotally mounted on the support18 and turnable to engage in a recess or groove 23 formed between thecover and the body of the inkwell. It will be seen that when the cover13 of the desk top is raised, the inkwell may be manually lifted fromits nonuse position within the top box as shown in full lines in Figure3, to an elevated position shown in dotted lines in the same view,whereupon the inkwell may be swung outwardly with its support I8 andfinally lowered with the carriage 2!} to its use position outside thetop box as seen in Figure l. In the latter position the inkwell supportrests on the curled upper edge of the side wall of the top box. When themovements are reversed and the inkwell is returned to its non-useposition within the top box, it is supported in this non-use position bycontact of the supporting arm M with a lug 29 on the bracket 23. It willbe seen that the parallel supporting arms 2| and 22 maintain thecarriage 20 in a substantially horizontal position and the inkwell in anupright position during these movements.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a deskstructure having various features of novelty over prior structures ofthe same general type, and while but several specific embodiments of theinvention have been herein shown and described it will be understoodthat numerous details of the construction shown may be altered oromitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as the sameis defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a desk structure or the like: an upwardly open top box having acover hinged to the front wall thereof; a supporting arm pivotallyassociated with the inside of one of the other walls of the top box forswinging movement in substantial parallelism with said other wall; acarriage piv otally connected to the free end of the supporting arm andmovable with said arm to a lowered position within the top box and to anelevated position above the top box when said cover is raised; means formaintaining the carriage in a substantially horizontal position duringsaid movements; an inkwell support mounted on the carriage pivotallyabout a substantially vertical axis and movable, when the carriage iselevated, between positions above the top box and outwardly beyond thesaid other wall thereof; an inkwell in the inkwell support movable withthe inkwell support and the carriage between a lowered position whollywithin the top box and an elevated position above the top box, movablewith the inkwell support between the latter position and an elevatedposition outwardly beyond the said other wall of the top box, andmovable with the inkwell support and the carriage between thelast-mentioned position and a lowered position outside the top box.

2. In a desk structure or the like: an upwardly open top box having acover hinged to the front wall thereof; a supporting arm pivotallyassociated with the inside of one of the other walls of the top box forswinging movement in substantial parallelism with said other wall; acarriage pivotally connected to the free end of the supporting arm andmovable with said arm to a lowered position within the top box and to anelevated position above the top box when said cover is raised; means formaintaining the carriage in a substantially horizontal position duringsaid movements; an inkwell support mounted on the carriage pivotallyabout a substantially vertical axis and movable, when the carriage iselevated, between positions above the top box and outwardly beyond thesaid other wall thereof; an inkwell in the inkwell support movable withthe inkwell support and the carriage between a lowered position whollywithin the top box and an elevated position above the top box, movablewith the inkwell support between the latter position and an elevatedposition outwardly beyond the said other wall of the top box, andmovable with the inkwell support and the carriage between thelast-mentioned position and a lowered position outside the top box,wherein the inkwell support rests on the upper edge of the said otherwall of the top box.

3. In a desk structure or the like: an upwardly open top box having acover hinged to the front wall thereof; a bracket mounted on the insideof a side wall of the top box; a pair of supporting arms pivotallyconnected to the bracket at spaced points for swinging movement insubstantial parallelism with each other and with said side wall; acarriage pivotally connected at similarly spaced points to the free endsof the supporting arms and movable with said arms to a lowered positionwithin the top box and to an elevated position above the top box whensaid cover is raised, the carriage being substantially horizontal andbeing maintained in such disposition during said movements by thesubstantial parallelism of said arms; an inkwell support mounted on thecarriage pivotally about a substantially vertical axis and movable, whenthe carriage is elevated, between positions above the top box andoutwardly beyond the said side wall thereof; an inkwell in the inkwellsupport movable with the inkwell support and the carriage between a lowered position wholly within the top box and an elevated position abovethe top box, movable with the inkwell support between the latterposition and an elevated position outwardly beyond the said side wall ofthe top box, and movable with the inkwell support and the carriagebetween the last-mentioned position and a lowered position outside thetop box wherein the inkwell support rests on the upper edge of said sidewall of the top box.

4. In a desk structure or the like: an upwardly open top box having acover hinged to the front wall thereof; a bracket mounted on the insideof a side wall of the top box; a pair of supporting arms pivotallyconnected to the bracket at spaced points for swinging movement insubstantial parallelism with each other and with said side wall; acarriage pivotally connected at similarly spaced points to the free endsof the supporting arms and movable with said arms to a lowered positionwithin the top box and to an elevated position above the top box whensaid cover is raised, the carriage being substantially horizontal andbeing maintained in such disposition during said movements by thesubstantial parallelism of said arms; an inkwell support mounted on thecarriage pivotally about a substantially vertical axis and movable, whenthe carriage is elevated, between positions above the top box andoutwardly beyond the said side wall thereof; an ink well in the inkwellsupport movable with the inkwell support and the carriage between alowered position wholly within the top box and an elevated positionabove the top box, movable with the inkwell support between the latterposition and an elevated position outwardly beyond the said side wall ofthe top box, and movable with the inkwell support and the carriagebetween the last-mentioned position and a lowered position outside thetop box wherein the inkwell support rests on the upper edge of said sidewall of the top box; and stops on said bracket for engaging one of saidlinks to limit the raising movement of the inkwell and to limit thelowering movement of the inkwell within the top box.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberNumber Name Date Henry Aug. 6, 1878 Stephens June 22, 1886 Erickson Jan.7, 1908 Guidal Apr. 19, 1921. Woolman Dec. 11, 1923 Morgan Apr. 17, 1945FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Mar, 25, 1920

